Into volunteering, lets persuade them with a very specific benefit. Our volunteering as a pathway to employment that was released this report released last year has given us some very good news. If you are unemployed and youre looking for work and volunteer, you increase the likelihood of gaining a job about 27 . If you dont have a high school diploma, that likelihood raises up to 51 . If you live in a Rural Community and looking for woerk, you increase the likelihood about 55 . Because so many of our young people in the age group of 18 to 24 are looking for work, in fact, theyre in the bracket with the highest unemployment rates of any age group, we need to find ways to get them connected to jobs. And i think with this case study, now, that luring them in through the volunteering is a really good way to do so. Its going to help them but also the communities they served. More hands and hearts to help those that serve. So thats the case. How do we do it . The president s task force on expanding National Service that president obama issued over a year ago asked us and i cochair that with the domestic policy adviser to the president. Asked us to find new partnerships to grow opportunities for americans to serve. So we set out to work with other federal agencies, the private sector, nonprofits. Faith community. And im pleased to report that with our new partnerships, we have been able to enroll over 4,000 new americore members and 33 million committed to this. Now, thats through this these partnerships. And were looking for more. We said, well, another way is to lets find some resources. So we were able to identify up to 30 million in a partnership we call amercore partnerships challenge. And this partnership, for all of those that will take us up on it, will help us engage up to 8,000. Members in service over the next year or two. So this is College Scholarships that well be offering. Were looking for organizations who are willing to underwrite the modest living if youve got an idea and youre willing to underwrite some of that modest living allowance, were willing to partner with the educational scholarships and brand them as americorps members, which is a great opportunity to join with us. And im pleased that the ncoc under the leadership and the National Service alliance that he spoke about a few minutes ago has also also has this goal. To engage more americans, in particular that 18 to 24, 28year americans in service. Its led with a wonderful leader, general Stanley Mcchrystal who is being a wonderful face and a prolific champion. But i have to thank general mcchrystal for the leadership and all of the members of the National Service alliance, as well. Now, we know our opportunity, we need to get more americans to serve. Weve got partnerships available. Weve provided and set aside funding to do so. I know were going to engage more americans in service. In fact, we celebrated our 20th anniversary. Where we celebrated 900,000 americans have served in americorps over the last 20 years. Now, what weve learned from those who have served in americorps, is they learn great skills. How to be great speakers, connect services to individuals. They learn how to market a program. How to work through problems, and they learn how to serve with people different from themselves. All of these are characteristics that employers are looking for. And we would encourage employers to look for. They also have a bit service above self, mission above self mentality in their qualifications. And theyve competed for these positions. And theyve been selected. So, we are now going to ask employers across the country to recognize that National Service participants like the alums have great assets to offer an organization. At the 20th anniversary event, we were pleased to have president george w. Bush and laura bush give us a message during that day, and also president george h. W. Bush participated in a service at his home with americorps members where in all 50 states, the new class, 75,000 of them were inducted at the same moment in time on september 12th. On this day, president obama announced a new initiative called employers of National Service. We are asking employers to give a little bit of a preference to those who have served communities through americorps or peace corps or other National Service programs. Maybe in your advertisements that you post job applicants. You say americorps members, encourage to apply. Take it a step further, maybe wed ask those employers around the country, both nonprofits, private sector to put a check box in the application that says, have you served in a National Service program, like americorps or peace corps . Please describe your experience. Or maybe theres a point system they might want to encourage. Im very pleased were having an inaugural charter, employers of National Service partnerships challenge that will enlist employers around the country who will participate with us. And that deadline is december 31st. But im pleased to share a couple greater employers that have signed on. Disney, comcast and nbc universal, csx railroad, the american red cross, habitat for humanity, teach for america. The city of nashville was a first city. And the city of South Sioux City in nebraska. I was just in nebraska and announced this partnership with the first lady of nebraska on the steps last week. If you employ anyone, consider the alums of National Service participants. In your qualifications or someone you should look to to bring on to your team because i promise you, they will make Outstanding Team members. I am thrilled to be a part of this conference. Im thrilled to be a partner to the ncoc. And i support all the work that our universities and colleges are doing to connect our students to opportunities to serve. And lets work on that group who are not enrolled in college, as well. Im going to count all of you to join us in the americorps partnerships challenge, or any way you can find a vehicle, an avenue, for americans to serve our communities. Thank you so much for having me today. Really appreciate it. Thank you, wendy, before bringing out our next speakers, i wanted to give you a sneak peek at the civic life data coming out. I want to share two numbers with you. Two of them havent changed much, but the third i find interesting, 88 of americans ate dinner with friends and family. 56 of americans trusted most or all of their neighbors. Its the last number, 55 have some or great deal of confidence in the media. That sounds like a majority and large number, but went down seven points since 2011. And that sounds to me like thats worthy of a Civic Health Index report. We need to delve into that number. Of course, all of these numbers dont mean as much or dont have meaning in and of themselves where i disconnected from the people who do the work on the ground. Its those folks who in small and big ways make the difference in our communities. I want to invite a group of folks who have done that through National Service, mary bruce and her colleagues from americorps. Please joining me in welcoming them to the stage. Mary bruce. My dad dropped out of high school. He went back in his early 20s. I remember him telling me, he took it much more seriously the second time around. And there was another student who was being distracting in class. Hep didnt like that. My dad found that kid in the hallway, grabbed him by the collar, slammed him into the lockers, and threatened him within an inch of his life to pay attention. My dad said that helped that kid pay attention. My dad later went to college, but he didnt finish. And he always regretted that. So in our household growing up, college wasnt optional. My dads stories and hopes for us made us pay attention. So when our College Acceptance letters came, we were thrilled. But when, no matter how we ran the numbers, we found out we couldnt afford it, it was devastating. Late in my senior year of high school, i had to find something else. And i found americorps, and it changed my life. I moved from suburb bursuburban washington, d. C. Public schools. Fewer than half finished high school. I served as a tutor and mentor in a fourth grade classroom. I have never been so exhausted. I remember once i was walking to school. It was the winter holidays, and i wanted to do something for those kids. I bought crayons and small things and put them in gift bags and carefully tied ribbons on the gift bags. And i was in the middle of the sidewalk hands full of these gift bags and i broke down and cried. How are crayons possibly going to make a difference to these kids . I can see their faces so clearly. These kids were so smart and so hard working and stuck in a system that was completely failing them. These kids meads me pay attention. I dont know where they are today, but id like to think they were a little bit better prepared for the fifth grade because i was there. And more than that, i know im part of a movement. Of teachers and principals, poets and policy makers who were made in americorps. Individuals who continue to live a life of service because they served. The data shows that. 9 of 10 go on to work in the public sector. They say it was among the most significant in their life. Im thrilled to be joined by two alums, jeffrey and kelly. We were made in americorps. We are part of a movement, and im thrilled to have them share their stories today. Growing up, i was a bit of a nerdy kid. I was often bullied and picked on and in school. But despite that, i always had that inner sense of confidence that whatever i was going to do in life was going to be important. It was going to have an impact. I had that because of my parents, family, folks in the community who instilled that vision of the community into me. For me, i thought that would be science. I always wanted to be a doctor. I got my first microscope when i was 8 years old. Thought i was going to be in an emergency room, loved the show e. R. Thought i was going to find a cure for cancer. That would be my impact for the world. I was a bio major in college. In someone semester, i signed up for Service Learning course. I didnt know what Service Learning was. It sounded different and engaging, and i definitely didnt know that the service and the Service Learning course would assign me to a group home working with teenagers who have been removed from their families because of decisions they themselves had made or the decisions their care givers had made. But it did. And as i developed the relationships with those young people, i began to look at them and began to see my teenage self within them. When i looked in their eyes, i didnt see any light and i didnt hear any vision of what they thought their future could be. And it was in those moments i realize the impact i thought i would have through my work and life was likely going to look different. That one Service Learning course became another and another until when i graduated from college, i didnt want to go back to the bio lab. I was looking for leadership opportunity that was going to help me become a Service Professional that could impact the lives of young people. And i found what the Childrens Services in New Hampshire and it happened to be in anmericorps program. When i raised my right hand to take the pledge, i had no idea what participation that program was going to do me. It was going to ignite this lifelong thirst to empower and uplift and transform individuals and communities, but it did. And as a result, i stand before you today, back in the lab. In the social innovation lab, excited and honored to be part of a network of americorps alums, and working with organizations like ncoc exploring, how can we level volunteerism, Civic Engagement to address the challenges we face as a community, as a country and nation. Im jeffrey richardson, executive director, Mayors Office of volunteerism where were facilitating 500 National Service opportunities each year in the district that are getting things done. Thank you. So, good morning. My name is kelly tye, based in brooklyn, new york, and like my colleagues here, mary and jeffrey, i was made in americorps. When i graduated from college, i graduated with a major in urban planning comparative literature which clearly prepares you for life as a spoken word poet. I, actually, it was a threetime alternative spring break alum, which is, i think, almost a record. I wanted to do something with my life and i graduated from school in 2000. I had the benefit of always knowing that americ core was there and thats what i could do with my life when i wanted to contribute and give back to my community after i graduated from school, i served a year at Public Allies chicago, back then that was, you know, in large part due to michelle obama. And people would talk about how great the obamas were, and i was like, who are the obamas and why does everyone think theyre so great . But when i was in my time in ame americorps, i was doing youth entrepreneurship. And my first day on the job was everyones first day on the job since it was a startup. As well as in the early weeks of my time there, one of the major gang leaders in the neighborhood who was assassinated by a rival gang. There was so much happening in the community at that time. And as ive gone on all over the world, ill take that experience of not only serving in that space. But my cohort of friends that continue to make impacts in so many different fields. I would like to share a little poem with you all if thats all right. Yes . Is that all right . And i wrote this this in celebration of the 20th anniversary of americorps. Its dedicated to the 900,000 people who have served through americorps and all of you who care so deeply about contributing to our communities in so many ways. To find your place in the world where your leverage can mean everything. Where your courage can invite a child to read, a house to be built, a veteran to live more fully again, grasp hands in the circle. Where none of us know what we can be, not yet. We find out together. Planning nights at the school gym, packing medical supplies a the the clinic. Unjamming paper stuck in that printer. Driving that long stretch of road. Beyond the floodplain. Here, where value so often goes overlooked. Here in this place, this community, this person, you commit. Without maybe knowing exactly why yet. You commit ten months, a year, two years three, a lifetime, add to the billion of hours of work. The hundreds of thousands of hands working so hard to pull together what so often falls through the cracks. Find value here. Where it too often goes overlooked. Where its leverage can mean everything. For all of us. Every single one. Thank you all so much. Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome john, chairman of the National Advisory board of the ncoc to present the award. Good morning. Were running a little behind, so i run on stage. Its uplifting to hear Service Learning translate into a lifelong thirst to Serve Community and country. What a wonderful display of and power of service. Hats off to mary bruce who is doing an extraordinary job and Wendy Spencer on behalf of our country who is helping to strengthen this service culture. 2 1 2 years ago, our next guest and keynote speaker was giving a talk on leadership at the ideas festival and ignited a nation with a big idea. He noted for the first time in history less than 1 of americans were serving in our military during war, leading to the complacent assumption that serving the country was somebody elses job. He went on to call for large scale National Service so that every Young American could have the shared experience of serving their nation. Either in the military or as a civilian. This grows out of his own service to country and record of achievement. Hes been praised for creating a revolution in warfare that infused intelligence and operations. A fourstar general, hes the former commander of u. S. And International Forces in afghanistan and iraq. Hes also the former leader of the joint special Operations Command jsoc, which oversees the most sensitive forces. His leadership of jsoc is credited with well known actions that made our country safer. Today through his work here at home, hes on the front lines of the National Service movement yet again. Bringing the same ingenuity and dedication he brought to the battlefield to the franklin project at the Aspen Institute and the new National Service alliance of which the National Conference on citizenship, Service Nation and voices for National Service are a proud part. He has recruited and led a highlevel team of advocates for National Service bringing in former secretaries of Service Service and state, leaders from every sector of life and tapped a talented marine corps veteran to lead the effort with his Extraordinary Team former cia analyst and former volunteers analyst, tess mason elder. And alan kasey is with us, as well. Hes encouraged us to apply some lessons to form a new National Service alliance with a common vision, clear goals, and a plan of action to meet them. He is also the author of the bestselling book, my share of the task. How many of you read it, please, hands go up, good, more of you should. And new book team of teams set for release in 2015. So today, the National Conference on citizenship is honored to present general Stanley Mcchrystal with the award commissioned by the major george a. Smith memorial fund. This annual award is designed to honor the life and service of major smith, a man who served for 20 years in the u. S. Army as a foreign area officer throughout the middle east and spent his retirement working with fema to help hurricane victims restart their lives. His family established the award to recognize an outstanding veteran who defines their citizenship through service to our country both in uniform and beyond. I cannot think of anyone who could better fit that than our honoree and keynote speaker today. Please welcome general Stanley Mcchrystal. I grew up in the rangers, and the board was first used in the rangers. And its interesting because theres a great story about where it came from because all rangers walked around saying hoowa the whole time. And he was in second ranger battalion and the story is that the battalion landed, it was very difficult, they were getting shot up and then general norman koda walked along the beach and he needed people to start moving inland no matter how difficult it was going to be. And hep went to an organization and said, which unit are you guys from . Young sergeant looked up and said, sir, were the rangers. And he says, okay, rangers lead the way. And the young man looked up, who, us . You spend a lifetime in the military like i did, you are taught never to volunteer. I mean, from day one, even if theyre giving out fourday passes and attaching 100 bills to them, dont volunteer, its a trick. I spent my whole life volunteering. And it was funny, around soldiers and around people in this room, you have a habit of volunteering. You cant help yourself. If someone says something has to happen, you just do. Your arms up before you realize it. What i found in the military was so interesting. You couldnt get people to volunteer. But if it got very difficult and an organization was in a difficult spot and you needed a group of volunteers to go in there, you always had more than you could demand. And so, volunteering becomes something that becomes inside our being. And its not whether youre in uniform, its something about you that grows inside of you. And weve we tend to volunteer when we know we need to. We tend to do that kind of thing. We need to we tend to step forward and take responsibility when times are hard. And ill tell you right now, i think this is that moment in america. We just look around and we instinctively know we have to change the concept of citizenship. If we go to many people in america, they think if they vote and pay their taxes, they did their job as a citizen. Thats not what citizenship is. A countrys no more than a covenant between people who decide to be a nation and its a relationship between people that has a responsibility to and for each other. Thats what citizens are. They are jointly bound to take care of each other. And so the concept of citizenship instead of being small and being a set either of entitlements or limited responsibilities really is expansive is what you are and what youre about and why you do or dont do what you do. And i think citizenship in america has eroded, for lots of reasons, but its eroded to the point where we need to stop and look at the real problem. We can look at partisanship and politics, look at economic inequality. We can look at the polarization of different parts of our society. But if we really look at the problem, and we want to fix it instead of going after each individual thing and if we want to take a big step, then its going to take a big idea. I believe in the big idea that service produces different citizens. I believe in the big idea once youre part of something bigger than yourself, you feel differently about it. Once youve invested, you own part of what america is and what society is. And the franklin project is a recognition that a big idea is needed right now. Weve been doing great things for many years, but we need to do more and the nation needs to embrace the idea that citizenship is reinforced dramatically by an experience of service. So the franklin project is really one part of an alliance to push the idea to make service a right of passage and an expectation of all americans, by giving an opportunity to every Young American of ages 18 to 28 to do a service year. 12 months of paid National Service in some spectrum. Health care, conservation, education. Its two sides of the same coin with military service. Weve allowed the term service to be associated with wearing an uniform, and its not. Service is service to others. If we say, are you in the service, that ought to apply to everyone who is or has been serving others. What weve got to do is give people the opportunity to do that. Think about your First Experience doing that. You felt good about it initially. You felt, okay, i did a good thing. But over time, you felt very different about your commitment to the whole. And it gets inside you. So the idea of a service is central to the franklin project. We have a longterm effort, which is going to take a decade or more to expand the concept of Service Years so that every Young American has that opportunity. Right now, we its pretty limited. The opportunities available to americans. Were going to have to expand those dramatically. Our tenyear goal is to have an opportunity for a million Young Americans every year, which would be about 25 of each year group. And our ultimate goal is to have it so embedded in our culture that when young people are sitting around the dinner table with the family, their parents will go, well, where are you thinking about serving . Either before, during or after college . Or if youre not going to college, before you begin the rest of your life. And young people will talk among themselves, not about, are you going to serve . Theyll talk about where you serve. And then i think were going to be best when it goes long eno h enough. Were on a train, standing at crowded train waiting and Start Talking to the stranger next to you and very early in the conversation you say, where did you serve . And one person says, well, i taught in a school in louisiana. And the other person says i served in the marine corps. And a third person says, i was doing conservation in nebraska. And there will be an instant connection between them. Therell be a bond they never knew, but they all had contributed to something. They all had because citizenship didnt just mean, i can vote. It means i have the right and responsibility. And longterm, i like to think if we can make this an kpngs, to where people who move forward in society, move forward in business, government, or wherever, particularly politics and they think about running for office, they wont do it unless they can stand up and say, and this is what i did for the nation to contribute. Im a small part of this movement. As mentioned, i joined really slightly over two years ago. I didnt even know what americorps was. I had no idea. And i think im probably average. But since ive gotten out, ive gotten the opportunity to see what it is and what the amazing stuff thats done. And so we have to have so much more of it. This room shouldnt be full of 150 people. It ought to be 50,000 hearing this at the same time. And i believe its possible if we align to the big idea. Thank you so much for all youve done, but you know, a thank you is really just trying to get you to do more. Thank you so much for all you are and all youve done. God bless. I feel a little bit like a deejay. But one more time, will you give it up for Stan Mcchrystal, please . Every time i think i might be doing something, might be making some contribution, i think of people like Stan Mcchrystal and it gets me out of bed a little faster, puts my pants on a little faster, gets me out of the door a little faster. A couple of personal notes, is Ted Mcconnell here . Where is Ted Mcconnell . Would you stand up, please, ted . Today is teds birthday. Ted is the executive director of the campaign of Civic Mission of schools and a pillar of our community. So happy birthday and many, many happy returns of the day. Is Kristen Campbell backstage . Kristen . Oh, kristen. Kristen is a is a long ti time oh, am i in trouble. Come here. Fulltime employee of the National Conference on citizenship and has become sort of of counsel in legal terms. And along the way, shes going to get married in two weeks to a wonderful guy. And along the way, she really screwed up her arm, and so, only in National Service terms is she a wounded warrior. Thank you. Thank you. This morning, we aim to shed light on the issue of economic equality. And Civic Engagement. The goal, certainly is not to engage in a partisan solution or discuss the full myriad of economic causes related to equality. And the relationship between Civic Engagement and equality. What are the interplays between these two critical elements of our lives . And how can we see it as a potential longterm way to address this challenge from many political, social and economic Vantage Points . Its sort of an interesting prism this morning, its an interesting way to view the light. Civic engagement is an interesting way to view the light that is coming from the issue of economic equality. The history of capitalism has been a constant search for balance. From what the economists refer to as our base animal instincts, have propelled our country forward, nonetheless. And the need to ensure all americans feel like they have a stake in the economy and our kmktsy. Democracy. Id like to read something a friend sent me. As capitalists, income inequality is part of our economy. It motivates entrepreneurs to take risks and build companies. Over our nations history, capitalism fostered the worlds most Successful Society in a relatively short 250 years, america has gone from nowhere to leading countries that are five times our age. Take it to the conclusion, the indicators that ncoc measures. We need to keep that civic data coming. Tell us about the balance. Like a thermometer. It has to work for as many as possible. Everyone in basketball terms, Everyone Needs to have a legitimate look at the basket of success. This is one reason why in 2011, ncoc delved into unemployment. In many ways this Panel Discussion is a Natural Evolution of that work looking not, looking not at the downstream challenge of unemployment, but the more culturally engrained upstream challenge of economic equality. We dont expect to find a solution in the next 60 minutes, but we have gathered a group of distinguished thinkers, thats easy for me to say to shed light on this topic. Bill is the Brookings Institution governance study program, a former adviser to bill clinton. An expert on domestic policy, political campaigns and elections, his Current Research focuses on designing a new social contract and the implications of political polarization. Additionally, many of bills best thoughts can be found weekly in his wall street journal column. There he poses imimportant questions to my fellow journal readers, and i use this balance in my thinking about these critical issues, and i know others do, as well. My only lament is this kind of balances in precious short supply. Ncoc has a long standing relationship with bill and he has served as an adviser to our civic health initiatives. And with that, its a pleasure to introduce bill galston and the members of his panel. Havent yet gotten bifocals, but i think i should. It is a pleasure and an honor to be back here at an annual meeting of this organization that has done so much to promote knowledge and action in the area of Civic Engagement. There is nothing like this organization and i hope it continues to go from strength to strength in the years ahead. I will try not to waste it. My first job is to introduce the members of this panel, they all have distinguished resumes, and so i will not give any one of them the introduction he or she deserves. Starting at the far end, robert door. Who is fellow and policy studies at the American Enterprise institute, and for purposes of todays discussion. And an extraordinary Vantage Point in which to view much of what is going on in our society. Next is eric liu, the founder and ceo of citizen university. As the coauthor of a couple of really influential books in the areas of citizenship and Civic Engagement. Gardens of democracy and the true patriot. Next, Erica Williams simon who has become extraordinarily prominent and influrnl at what i now regard at a very young age. She is the founder and ceo of ews strategies. Her advice has been sought by some of the most important profitmaking, as well as Nonprofit Institutions in the world. And to my mediate left or right depending on your Vantage Point, in charge of budget policy at the Economic Policy institute. And tom has served with distinction in virtually all of the federal Government Agencies that i would describe as honest and functional, including, you know, including gao, omb, the Social Security administration, the Congressional Research service. He hasnt yet touched cbo or the joint tax committee. But other than that, his resume is complete. So since tom, since youre a certified economist, i understand, could you get this conversation launched by talking a bit about such concepts as income, wealth and inequality. And what we know has been going on in these areas over the past generation or so . Okay. Well, let me i want to step back a little bit and be very brief. When we are talking about inequality or economic inequality, we can be talking about Economic Opportunities or economic outcomes. And its easier to talk about economic outcomes, its easier to measure than it is to talk about opportunity. And thats where we get into the discussion about consumption, income, or wealth inequality. Id say in a word, however you measu measure, whether its consumption, income or wealth and if were looking at income if its before taxes and before transfers or after transfers or after transfers and taxes, is the trend over the last three decades has been upwards. Income, wealth and consumption inequality have been increasing for the past 30, 35 years. The interesting thing about much of the increase is most of the action at the top of the distribution. Top of the Wealth Distribution or income distribution. And, you know, basically its the top 1 or even a smaller slice is pulling away from the rest of us, which i think does have some implication, or why income inequality is important for a variety of other reasons, including social cohesion, and civic engage. Thanks so much. Now well pass the microphone down to robert door. As i mentioned previously, as the commissioner of the largest municipal Regional Administration in the country. He has had the opportunity to look at what happened in new york city, but also as a scholar. The Human Resources administration in new york city was the citys principal social service agencies. So we had welfare and Child Support enforcement and medicaid and food stamp benefits. And our focus there in that agency was less on an inequality and more on Poverty Reduction and opportunity enhancement. And we felt that we had an approach that worked compared to other large cities. I think we made progress during some difficult times in the last seven years. Nationally, i think that the inequality issue is in some respects for those of us who care about poverty and median incomes and helping those at the low end move up. And nationally the most recent data was just very disappointing. Median incomes for africanamericans is almost 15 lower. Were far off where we were in the relatively recent past. Before the recent recession. We need to focus on broadbased growth. That increases opportunities and jobs at all levels of the economy. The weakness in the recovery has been terrible. Thats some of what we did in new york city. We also have to focus in work supports that make wages go farther, especially for people who left out of our work support system, like childless adults who dont get an earned income tax credit, not likely to be eligible, have no other various kinds of supports. They are entirely reliant on the wage. And then lastly, is family. To the extent that, again, the most recent data, once again confirmed. Bad statistics in that regard are highly related to communities where most of the households are in single parent families. So work, work supports, family, those, i think, will be and Poverty Reduction and helping people at the low end is what we need to focus on. Eric liu, you have spent a number of years now looking hard at the relationship between civic trends and economic trends. What is the impact of both the first two speakers have said. How do you assess that impact on our civic and political life. Im really glad that they have decided to focus squarely on this question of inequality. It is, you know, for those as robert is saying who is concern is primarily about poverty and alleviating poverty, im not sure i would call inequality a distraction. I understand the point that youre making. And at levels not seen since roughly before the great depression. And this is one of those instances where we dont really want to test how much correlation ends up being causation. When you have this kind of concentration, its not healthy for the economy. Economic inequality and political inequality. When you have the levels of concentrated voice and concentrated political clout we have in this country today, there was a recent study by benjamin page and another political scientist showing, essentially the average citizens, average americans have little to no bearing on the politics. Thats not a partisan statement. Across different parts of administrations. Policymakers bend primarily to those in the top 10 and probably, you know, even slices within the top 10 . That type of economic inequality begets civic inequality, where those in the middle much less those poor find they have little to no voice and little to no power to make their voices heard. Well, that in turn begets more economic inquestiality, right . Wow, these are two interesting phenomena going on. They are part of a feedback loop of a cycle. And our charge here, both in this conversation, but i think more broadly in the work that all of us do that the ncoc is great at getting us to focus on, how to break that vicious circle and set in motion a virtues you circle of more economic opportunity, political opportunity and more civic opportunity. And im sure well get to talk a bit more about that as we go. Not only have you worked with the nonprofit organizations ive listed, you have been one of the principal actors in the effort to get the millennial generation involved in addressing all of these questions. I really have a twopart question for you. Does it ring true given the sorts of people youve counselled and the sorts of groups youve tried to activate and inspire. And number two, how are you advising groups and individuals begin responding to these questions . Well, first i had to sit out because im not as reserved as my colleagues up here. Im very, very excited about this work. And i know that everyone up here is. And my job has primarily been to tell stories and help people tell the stories that inspire change. And so when i hear this data and this analysis, it absolutely rings true. And my primary role in this work has been how do i help young people not just understand this data and what it means. To decision makers. So what were hearing and what we know about the economy and the impact on young people is terrifying, right . And its kind of depressing. If were going to be honest about it. And, yet all of the data and research about millennials show we are still, and i say we even though im on the upper and older end of the millennial demographic. All of the data shows that the millennials are still optimistic. He articulated this brilliantly and said millennials will bypass. Theyre a bypass jury excused. They are n generation. Theyre not interested in the institutions of old. The institutions they were told, as a better way to put it would solve their problems, would lead them to economic prosperity. The word i havent heard used up here yet this morning is economic security. They dont put their faith in the institutions that have thus far failed them. Thats the story theyve seen played out in their lifetime. Yet, they are solution oriented. And Civic Engagement needs to be transformed to one of solutions. How do we as a Civic Engagement Community Position the work we do as a solution perhaps not the only. Certainly not the only. You can actually see the relationship between volunteeri volunteerism, Civic Engagement and employability. If we can begin to tell not juts young people, but the country. This is not its not something beautiful and positive for the sake of historical reverence, for the sake of Civic Engagement. But begin to paint it as a solution to the economic insecurity youre experiencing. I think well see an increase, and we are in young people participating. The second thing ill say is when we look at the levels of engagement, there are two stories being told. Right, like in our work and our space where we care about the data, we recognize that they are incredibly civic minded. We have an impulse toward service and yet the National Narrative is that young people are lazy and connected to technology too much. Thats not true. But we have to find a way in the Civic Engagement opportunity to talk about the work that young people do. And it may not sound to the common ear, to the average person like what weve been taught Civic Engagement is. It may not look the same. Social entrepreneurship is the way that young people are responding to the pressures of the economy, and responding to their social concerns. Innovating with technology and finding ways to hold their leaders accountable via the technology they have helped build and create is another example. So i think we also have to talk about language to accurately reflect what theyre feeling and what were doing. Thats terrific, four wonderful opening statements, and response for related by different questions. Im going to call an audible for a minute. Because two important debates have emerged already. A difference of emphasis on the question of whether we should be looking at inequality or poverty. Obviously we could look at both, but what is what should we really be keeping our eyes on as the problem to be addressed through Civic Engagement as well as other means. Bob . Tom, you want to, since robert raised the question, you might want to Say Something about it. Well, i mean, i think income inequality is very important. But i think one of the things that, and i think both eric and erica had brought this up is we need to keep our institutions honest. Complaining about institutions failing them. Well, you have to be involved and keep the institutions honest by doing the Little Things like going going out and voting, writing your congressperson. To actually talk to them about whats on a specific issue on your mind. And that should be on their mind. I i think i agree with eric, that income inequality is not a distraction. And i think he did a great job of talking about some of the problems that we see. Inequality seems to breed political. The welfare of our nation, and that does include focusing on the welfare of those at the bottom of the income distribution, but we shouldnt lose sight that there are people in the middle who really seen their incomes stagnate over the last 20, 30 years. Obviously ive worked in the program for 18 years and im very focused on the bottom. There are some solutions on the income inequality issue. And im a believer in the transparency with regard to the ratios between the ceos and workers. That rule has been passed and trying to enforce it. Corporations in america are often sitting on an awful lot of potential Investment Opportunity that can be done in a lot of ways